4.
Here is the most controversial entry from the original post: “If you have stage 3 cancer (and definitely if you have stage 4), SKIP THE CHEMO! It most likely won't save your life and may actually hasten your death and/or ruin the quality of what little time you have left (because it will make you very sick, weak and tired). Enjoy the rest of your time FEELING (relatively) WELL (without vomiting and dealing with painful mouth sores, infections and a host of other chemo-related miseries).”
“If I ever get cancer and am told it is stage 3 or higher, I will never take chemotherapy (and will only do radiation if it is palliative and necessary to relieve my pain and not to treat the cancer). I administered chemo drugs for several years while working as an oncology nurse, and I saw how terribly sick and unhappy it made people. does this spoil the food? Chemotherapy often causes canker sores and other painful mouth/throat infections and ulcers. It also often causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Why can't children be around? Chemotherapy often leaves the patient neutropenic (very low white blood cell count), putting him at high risk for a life-threatening infection. Children are contagious, so they are usually not allowed to visit (unless the patient dies and is no longer receiving treatment).
Chemotherapy is a poison that I would not wish on anyone. Yes, it can be a life-saving poison, but in most cases it comes at a cost (neuropathies, hearing loss, organ damage, increased risk of other cancers, etc.).
Doctors will continue to give you treatment recommendations because that's what they're trained to do and they assume that's what everyone wants. But at ANY stage of treatment, you can (and should, if you don't want to continue to suffer) tell your doctor that you no longer need chemotherapy or other painful treatments, or medications that make you sick (such as oral chemo drugs). A good doctor should always offer “no treatment” as an option, especially for advanced cancer.
PLEASE NOTE: These are solely my opinions and the opinions of every nurse I have ever worked with. This is not a medical suggestion, and yes, I know that some (few) stage 3 and 4 cancers DO respond to chemotherapy (sometimes). In my experience, this is the exception, not the rule.”
—Lisa M.Kura
